Can you dig it?

 

To call our house a fixer-upper seems to be a bit of an understatement. It is a huge project that we have been working on since we moved in 9 months ago. The kitchen had to be gutted (thats a picture of it empty) and built again. Same for the bathroom. We bought the house knowing we needed to fix these things and Nate's done a great job of doing these projects so far. We also knew the house was too small and planned to dig out the basement and add on a third story. Right now Nate's office occupies the front half of our bedroom and I think he's getting anxious for his own space (mostly so he can be a slob without me rolling my eys at him!!) We spent a ton of time prepping for the basement dig out--cleaning it out, getting the plans drawn up, choosing a contractor to help out and enlisting a workforce. One of the things we didn't spend much time on was getting city permits. We had been warned about this part of the process, but haven't had to deal with it so far (none of the other projects were so obvious from the outside...) We were given the permit to put the dumpster out on the street to collect the dirt, but denied the permit to remove the dirt. Boo. Seems there were a few dig-outs that resulted in a few rowhomes collapsing. We are confident that our architect/structural engineer has created a plan that would not destabilize the house, but apparently the city is less confident in our plans. Some have suggested digging without the permit. I am wondering if those people will give us a place to stay when the city condems our home.
This is a hurdle, sure. But we are determined ot eek out more living space from our small city home anyway we can, so we are on to plan B (in case anyone cares, I suggesting finishing the basement without digging it out BEFORE we spent 4 digits on the project!!) And from this setback we have gleaned several bits of wisdom:
You can fight City Hall, but why would you want to?
Get any permits you might need sometime BEFORE the day you plan to begin the project.
Make the architect's pay contigent on a sucessful permit!
Don't get your heart set on a project or the powers-that-be will crush your spirit.
Cleaning out your basement is cathartic!
Anyway I am sure there will be many more headaches to come but I wouldn't leave my little rowhouse for anything!!

Triathalon Tuesday (late again!!)

 

I am really sore from yesterday's workout. No pain, no gain, right? I haven't been able to swim this week, but we did go on a family hike and with Ensley on my back that definitely test the endurance! The hike almost didn't happen though...As we were parking, a sickinglt sweet smell wafted up to me from the back seat. Ens was hysterical to get out of his seat. I knew this was not going to be pretty. Without going into all of the gory details, lets just say that even his sock was completely full of poo. Wowza! Luckily I hadn't completely unpacked my car from visiting my parents' so there was a pair of jammies that we could put him in. Ensley seem to enjoy his first hike and I got in a great workout.
My most irongirl moment: holding down a wriggling, poopy 7 month old with one hand while cleaning up the mess with the other and getting no poo on me!! (and finally passing runners--I'm not the slowest anymore!)

Triathalon Tuesday ( a day late)

An astute reader of this blog might remember that I made a new year's resolution to finish a triathalon this year.
I have been wanting to update my progress weekly to keep myself accountable. I thought it would be catchy to call it triathalon tuesday (sorry I was too tired last night!)
I have been practicing my swimming about once a week for a month or so. This last time, the lifeguard didn't seem to be ready to leap in to save me. And I didn't swallow any chlorine. But my arms and neck are still sore. And I am starting to be nervous about the big crowd of swimmers the day of the race.
I also ran about three miles and didn't collapse.
I had a personal training session that left me so sore that I couldn't climb the steps for an entire day.
There is definitely some progress (and a long way to go still).
See you next Tuesday (or Wednesday)

Thanks Poppa!

 

Today my father drove all the way to my house to install a shelf he built for my kitchen. We had to cover up an area behind our cabinets where the wall was out of square by several inches (gotta love 100 year old homes!)
Ikea couldn't fix this kitchen dilema, but my father could. He did a great job--it looks better that I even imagined.
And all the while it was amazingly georgeous weather--he could have enjoyed it working on his own projects. Scarlett was very excited to see her Poppa and so was Ensley. It was a great little visit and my kitchen is really coming together! Thanks Poppa- you're awesome.

six months later

 

The other day I was marveling that Ensley is almost 7 months old!
Could it be that my little boy used to be that tiny? He has just gotten his second tooth, started practicing a very endearing laugh and sits and rolls and has an "I wish I could crawl" mentality.
He loves to play peek-a-boo and wiggle and splash in the bathtub.
I just caught Nate trying to teach him to say "Dada."
He already has a favorite toy and knows the difference between a real and pretend cell phone!
What happened to that little tiny peanut of a baby?
Looking forward to what happens next.

What's your love story?

For a project at church, we are collecting love stories. I'm not just talking about romantic love stories, but how loving someone has changed your life. Or maybe how someone showing you love has affected you. It might be a story of generousity, forgiveness, redemption or hope. It doesn't matter what the circumstances are, it is your story. But please tell me your story. Do it here or send it to me--call me, write me, e-mail me, just take a minute this week to share your story with me. Thanks.
I guess it wouldn't be fair for me to ask you to do this without sharing a story of my own.
There are so many examples of people showing me love in my life, my husband, my parents and my siblings have all loved me over and over even when I was completely unloveable. I can still distinctly remember one time in particular.
As a teenager I was lost. I seemed to know the right answers but purposefully chose the opposite. I made a lot of choices that I am not proud of. If there was a rule I wanted to break it, even if it meant sneaking and being dishonest. Trying on this new 'bad girl' skin to see what it was like. Apparently I wasn't very good at it, though--because I got caught. Alot.
One time I got caught (I think it was skipping school or breaking curfew) blatenly disobeying my parent's rules AGAIN. All afternoon I sat in my room dreading the fallout of the event. I practiced giving my parents an indifferent shrug and snide countenance. They came into my room and told me to get in the car. Now I was nervous. We started driving and it was very quiet at first. Then they started talking to me about what I had been doing. Not yelling, but asking and listening. Then I saw where we were going--a little greek restaurant that I hadn't tried before but wanted to. We sat together and talked. We talked about the food--it was good. and we talked about the choices I needed to be making. There was no anger, only love, guidance and forgiveness. When I wnet to sleep that night, I lay there knowing that my parents loved me no matter what. They did not like what I was doing but they liked me, and they always would. I went on to make even more mistakes and I am sure that I will continue to make more, but I know that my Poppa and Mom will love me despite them. This demonstration of their love not only gave me a peace and security all me life, but have given me an even greater gift. Now that I am a mother, I can model myself after them. I can show my children what unconditional love is and give them that gift.
That's my story. What's yours?

Confessions of a deadbeat mother

This morning I was giving art lessons, so I got up very early and made sure everything was clean and ready to go. About 20 minutes before the first students was to arrive, I realized that we had no toilet paper. Knowing that I would have people in the house throughout the day, I decided that it would be super embarrassing to ask guests to use diaper wipes. So to the convenience store one block down I went. Scarlett begged to go on a walk (it was snowing), so I told her if she hurried she could come. She put her own shoes on (wrong feet of course) and put down the marker that she was using to give herself a beard. I threw on the nearest sweatshirt (inside out) and we were on our way. Scarlett spots her wagon and insists on filling it with a random assortment of her "treasures" to drag behind her. Sure, okay...let's go!
I get into the store and grab the paper and hand the guy my card that I always use. I already feel bad about using a card for a $2 pack of TP, but I'm out of cash, so what can I do? He furrows his brow, hands me my card and tells me it has been declined. I ask him to try again--same result. WHAT!?! So I try the ATM. No dice. I tell the guy, "I'm so sorry, I will have to run home and get cash--I'll be right back." The guy hands me the paper and says "Ma'am, really it is no problem, you can bring me the money if you want, but you don't have to." I say I will and run out of the door.
On the walk home, I am wondering, why is this guy trying to just give me the tp? Then I survey the situation. My clothes are disheveled and I have fuzzy slippers on. My daughter has wild hair. She is dragging her possessions behind her in a wagon and her face is smeared with marker. I can't even pay for one lousy roll of paper. This guy must think I am the biggest deadbeat in town! He was giving me the paper because he felt bad for me. Great.
So after getting home and figuring out my banking error (all the money was in the other account...woops). I asked Nate to take the two bucks to the guy--I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Soon enough I will have to pop back in to that store(whenever I am craving dark chocolate m&ms most likely). But next time, I will try really hard not to be a pathetic wreck!!!